AG steps in on Westfall case

The Attorney Generals office in Austin will now be handling the case against a Tyler County family connected to a Jan. 2014 homicide.

Nathan and Krystal Maddox were gunned down in the parking lot of Mt.Carmel Baptist Church in Tyler County on Jan. 18. After a special grand jury met on March 11, Paul Westfall, Letha Westfall, Kristen Westfall, and Cameron Westfall were all indicted for engaging in criminal activity. Each member of the family was given a $1 million bond.

The arrest of the four came 52 days after the Maddox couple was killed. Kristen Westfall was the former wife of Nathan. Paul and Letha were the maternal grandparents. The four were arrested just down the road from were the shooting happened.

Nathan's father, Jim Maddox said the case has brought on a roller coaster of emotions. Maddox said he is satisfied with the attorney general's office stepping in because little has been done under Tyler County District Attorney Lou Ann Cloy.

"To see that we're going on two years into this and we haven't even really gone to court on this yet is extremely frustrating," Maddox said. Maddox "She promised by the 15th of every month she would call us even if it had to be after hours, but not one word since that time."

Krystal's mother, Rhonda Humphus, claimed she has gotten news from others and not Cloy when it came to the case.

"Every piece of information, I've had to call for," Humphus said. "I've heard stuff on the street. I would like to get it from the DA first. Hopefully with the attorney general's office that is going to change, and we will get the information before the public does."

The Westfalls had a court case scheduled for this week but are now on the Nov. 12 docket. Humphus said the delays do get old but she knows this one is for the better.

"To be put off at this point is perfectly okay with me," Humphus said. "I think this is definitely putting the final pieces together."

For Maddox, it is a small step in the right direction.

"At this point we have been left to our imagination and to see even a small step forward is encouraging," Maddox said. "We're not in a fairy land. We know justice takes time."

The East Texas News reached out several times throughout the day to Cloy's office. We were eventually told she would not be in the office Tuesday and could not answer any of the questions we had for her.

Deputies with the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office served a felony arrest warrant on a man after he allegedly tried to sneak a small plastic baggie containing marijuana in to the county jail Wednesday.

Deputies with the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office served a felony arrest warrant on a man after he allegedly tried to sneak a small plastic baggie containing marijuana in to the county jail Wednesday.